When shipping fragile products, it is desirable to provide protection against external shock which is as complete as possible and, at the same time, minimize both packaging and shipping costs. In the past, both expanded polystyrene (EPS or styrofoam) and polyurethane or polyethylene (flexible foam) inserts have been used for such purposes with considerable success. In recent years, however, environmental concerns over both EPS and flexible foams have been growing. Both are very voluminous per pound and thus tend to exhaust landfill areas much too quickly. Any foamed plastic product is, moreover, both difficult and costly to reclaim or recycle back to its original non-foamed state. There is, therefore, an ongoing need for new packaging techniques which not only provide adequate protection to products against external shock and minimize both packaging and shipping costs but also present minimal ecological problems in the disposal of packaging materials after they have served their intended purpose.